Chances
by Stark Fan
Summary: : Chances were that Erik wouldn't make it right, but chances were wrong. Chances were Charles would never trust Erik again but he ultimately will if Erik proves himself worthy of Charles' trust. I do not own anything...
1. Chapter 1

_**Chances**_

It was 5:30 in the morning and as far as anyone was concerned, Charles Francis Xavier had not changed his morning routine despite his disability. To the other X-Men, Charles was simply not a morning person. Today was different though, having been almost 2 months since the incident that changed his life forever, he had just now realized how much he missed Erik's company. Charles had been home for about a week, and though he had been happy to leave that white and uncannily sterile room, he missed Erik, though he would not show it, he truly missed Erik.

Suddenly a loud commotion was heard, jerking Charles from his thoughts. In the kitchen, Hank had walked into Erik, who was begging to talk to Charles. He was not demanding as Hank had expected him to be, but begging as he was being held against the wall.

"Please, Hank, I'm not going to hurt him, please, I only want to talk to him," Erik begged.

Hank growled at Erik, who flinched, choosing not to fight back.

"Hank, Please, I'm begging you, and you know I do not beg. I only want to speak with Charles," Erik begged.

Hank backed off, not happy about it, but he backed off. Erik stood slowly, not wanting to provoke any fight from Hank. Erik slowly walked away from the wall.

"Where is Charles," Erik asked once he found his words.

"He's in the study, but one telepathic plea for help and I'll be in there," Hank warned.

Erik nodded in agreement, then walked down the hall to the study. He silently entered the room and saw Charles across the room, staring out the window. Fighting back tears, Erik took off the helmet and set it on the ground by the door. As the presence of Erik's mind was detected, Charles turned around. Erik moved closer, close enough to see Charles' facial expression. Erik saw the fear and anger in Charles' eyes. Each of these details made it harder to hold the tears back. Erik fell to his knees in front of Charles.

"What do you want Erik," Charles asked.

"Charles, I see what I have done to you and I'm trying to say I deserve whatever hate and anger you feel towards me. I have been a horrible friend. I know you probably don't trust me, and I deserve it. I'm trying to say I'm sorry," Erik spoke slowly and evenly sa tears fell down his face.

"I appreciate the apology, but you won't make it right," Charles said coldly.

"Please, Charles, I'll make it right if you allow it. Just give me a chance. I'm not leaving," Erik begged, tears flowing freely now.

"Erik, I don't trust you," Charles said even colder than before.

"Charles, please give me a chance to make it right. I promise not to leave," Erik begged.

He stood, walking across the room, picking up the helmet. Charles was sure the other man was going to put it on, but Erik only crossed the room towards Charles. Erik set the helmet in Charles' lap, turned and left the room, leaving a very confused Charles behind him. Erik walked to his room and sat on the bed, a few minutes later, he was up and staring out of the window. Several minutes later, Erik decided to go back downstairs. He stepped in the kitchen to find Hank attempting to cook, and ultimately failing miserably.

"Hank, let me take over before you kill yourself," Erik said.

"You'll poison Charles," Hank responded.

"I'll use ingredients found here," Erik promised.

"Alright, fine," Hank said, a bit relieved to give up the cooking.

Erik smirked as he took over chopping up the vegatbles. While waiting for two dishes to finish cooking, Erik decided to bake brownies. After everything with the exception of the brownies were done, Erik smiled.

"If Charles wants to eat, he can come get it," Erik said before Hank had a chance to speak.

"The doctors said Charles should rest," Hank argued.

"Better he ignored the doctors," Erik said.

His thoughts were proven correct because before the brownies were finished baking, Charles joined them in the kitchen, though he refused to talk to Erik.

"Hank, you cooking has improved," Charles said.

"I didn't cook it, Erik did," Hank responded.

Charles stared at Erik for a few minutes then shrugged.

"Thank you Erik. It's better than Hank's cooking, and definitely better than the hospital food," Charles said.

Erik laughed, he couldn't help but do just that. It was a big improvement from about an hour ago. Charles was actually smiling, not a forced and fake smile like earlier, but a genuine smile. This caused Hank to smile, happy to see that Charles was finally happy. Though he knew it only took an hour for Charles to get used to his presence, some of the others, it would take weeks. After eating Erik walked out the back door and sat on the small stone structure that he leaned on after successfully moving the satellite dish receiver only months ago. Erik was staring off into space as it began to rain softly. Charles decided to go talk to him. He made his way out of the back door, but then his brakes malfunctioned and he was sent racing down the hill. He crashed into the barrier, causing Erik to fall off of the little wall. Once he realized what had happened, Erik jumped back over the wall and ran over to Charles. Charles was pinned against the wall, his wheelchair having fallen on top of him. Erik quickly moved the wheelchair off of the other man.

"Charles, are you okay," Erik asked, almost frantic.

There was no reply, but a small wimper of pain from Charles as Erik rolled him over.

"Charles, please, answer me. Are you okay," Erik said, his voice growing frantic.

"I'm so sorry Erik," Charles muttered.

"For what Charles? Why should you be sorry," Erik asked.

"For the way I greeted you earlier. I'm a weak man and I greeted you as such," Charles said, tears in his eyes.

"Charles, don't worry about that. Now let's get you inside before you get sick," Erik said, putting an arm around Charles' back and his other arm under Charles' knees.

Charles was shivering as Erik carried him through the house. After making it to Charles' room, Erik set the soaked and freezing cold man on the bed. Erik turned as a shivering and more than slightly disoriented Charles attempted to undress himself, but Erik ultimately had to undress Charles. Erik noticed that Charles' cheeks had turned a bright shade of red and that Charles would not lift his eyes from the floor.

"What's wrong Charles," Erik asked.

"I'm too weak to even undress myself," Charles said, his voice shaky.

Erik wrapped his arms around Charles, as much trying to warm him as to comfort him. Erik said nothing as Charles cried on his shoulder. This was not the Charles Xavier Erik knew, it just wasn't like him to cry at much.

"Charles, this is not how I know you. Leibling, you're not weak, I promise," Erik spoke softly.

Charles buried his face deeper into Erik's shoulder. Immediately, Erik knew that was the wrong thing to say as it made Charles cry harder.

"Charles, I'm sorry. That wasn't what I meant to say," Erik said, stroking Charles' hair.

Charles clung to Erik's tee shirt and cried.

"Why did you come back," Charles asked through the tears.

"You want to know the reason I came back," Erik asked, a bit stunned.

"Yes," Charles responded.

"I can't live without you," Erik said as he dried Charles' tears.

A few minutes later, Charles fell asleep on Erik's shoulder. About 5 minutes later, Erik laid Charles down and covered him with the blanket. Before Erik could leave the room, Charles grabbed his hand. Slightly stunned, Erik sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Charles to say what he had to.

"Thank you for coming back Erik," Charles said, the exhaustion showing in his voice.

"You're welcome leibling," Erik responded, smiling to himself.

"What does leibling mean," Charles asked sleepily.

"I'll tell you when you wake," Erik responded, tucking the blanket under Charles' chin before turning out the light and leaving the room.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Return**_

It was 3:00PM when Erik checked the clock. He passed the chess board and his mind flashed back to before the events on that Cuban beach. The nights he spent frequently included a Chess game, conversation, and laughter shared with Charles. Erik smiled to himself, knowing that since Charles had decided to take a nap, then he would be up late that night, he would want to do something until he did fall asleep. Erik also knew that Charles would want to talk to him. Chess was everything that they needed in a game, it entertained them and was slow enough to allow them to have a conversation. Erik smiled as he walked down the hall, letting his mind wander. He was on his way back to the gardens to bring Charles' wheelchair inside before it was ruined by the rain. Hank stopped him when he stepped in the kitchen.

"Where is Charles," Hank asked.

"He's taking a nap in his room," Erik responded.

"He never takes a nap during the day," Hank said.

"Well, he has run into a wall and hasn't slept in maybe 3 days," Erik responded.

"How did you know he hasn't slept in so long," Hank asked.

"The way his voice sounds. You can hear the exhaustion in his voice," Erik responded.

"Why didn't I pick it up," Hank asked.

"He didn't hide it from you, but you just didn't pick it up for whatever reason. Now let me go get his wheelchair before it ruins in the rain," Erik replied.

Erik walked out the back door and picked up Charles' wheelchair, carrying it into the house. He grabbed some towels and dried the chair. He then fixed the brakes, slightly modifying them in order to make them work better. This process took the better part of 2 hours, during which time Charles had woken up.

'_**Erik, Please come help me,'**_ Charles' voice rang in his head.

Erik took off running, he knew there was something too wrong with that statement. Charles was more frantic than Erik felt was necessary. He stopped in front of the closed door and opened it. Erik then surveyed the room, seeing that Charles was okay, still safe in the bed. Erik felt relieved that Charles was safe and then crossed the room, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Charles, leibling, are you okay," Erik asked, calmly.

"I'm so sorry about sounding frantic, my telepathy sounds far too frantic when I have a headache," Charles responded.

"I'll get you some Advil," Erik said.

He walked into Charles' bathroom, opened the medicine cabinet, grabbed the Advil and brought it to Charles, along with a glass of water. Charles took the medicine and smiled a silent thank you.

"Erik, what does leibling mean," Charles asked.

"Leibling means beloved in German," Erik replied.

"Really, is that true," Charles asked.

"Yes leibling, it's true. Now let's get you out of bed, I have a surprise for you," Erik said, resisting the urge to smile.

Charles placed his arms around Erik's neck as the other man lifted him from the bed. Erik carried to the kitchen and set him in his wheelchair.

"I modified the breaks so that they'll work in the rain," Erik explained.

"So no more running into walls," Charles asked, a bit unsure.

"Yeah, no more running into walls. I promise," Erik responded.

"Thank you Erik," Charles said.

Erik looked outside and noticed two things. One, the light rain had turned into snow and two, those who had left during Charles' absence were walking through the snow. Erik decided to make Chicken Noodle soup as Charles made his way out to the front lawn. He sat on the top of the steps, and though he couldn't see but about 5 or 6 feet in front of him, he was smiling.

"Mommy," Sean yelled in delight, running up to Charles and wrapping him in a hug.

"Hello Sean, how was your visit with your family," Charles asked.

"I had fun mommy, but I missed being here with you," Sean said.

Charles had no clue why Sean had started calling him mommy, but he was happy to see the boy again.

"Welcome back Alex," Charles smiled.

"Shut up Charles," Alex snapped.

"Hey, you can't talk to mommy that way," Sean said, pushing Alex backwards.

Alex pulled back his fist and was about to punch Sean.

"Boys, pleas, that is not necessary," Charles said.

His statement was not effective, so he had one choice; to call Erik to help before things got out of hand.

'Erik, please come help me,' Charles pleaded telepathically

Erik ran outside to see the two boys brawling on the ground.

"Both of you stop it now," Erik yelled as the two boys separated.

"Daddy," Sean said, fear lining his voice.

"Charles will deal with you two from here," Erik said sternly, the turned to go check the soup.

"Sean," Charles began to say before the boy started crying.

Charles sighed and moved closer to Sean, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Sean, please stop crying. I was going to thank you for defending me," Charles said, watching Sean dry his tears.

"Okay mommy," Sean said.

"Now go inside and let me talk to Alex," Charles said.

Sean did as told, going inside to his room to unpack his things, leaving Charles to talk to Alex alone. Charles turned his attention to Alex.

"Alex, what made you attack me unprovoked," Charles asked.

"That little brat, he's always so happy-go-lucky and he obeys you as if you were his real mother," Alex yelled.

"Alex, please, calm down," Charles said calmly.

"No," Alex screamed, pushing the wheelchair onto its side, sending Charles tumbling down the concrete steps.

Sean had been watching from the window for a few seconds. He jumped to his feet and ran out into the snow, pushing Alex aside and joggind down the steps. He kneeled down next to Charles.

"Mommy, are you okay," Sean asked, his voice frantic.

"I'm okay Sean, go get Erik," Charles replied, trying to sit up on the icy walkway.

Sean ran to the kitchen, finding Erik paking some type of snack cake.

"Daddy, Alex pushed mommy down the steps," Sean said frantically.

Erik ran back outside and lifted Charles from the snowy ground. Erik shot a death glare at Alex. Using his abilities, Erik turned the toppled wheelchair right-side-up and set Charles in it.

"Alex, go take a walk to cool off," Charles said.

Erik pushed Charles through the door and into the kitchen.

"Sean go drag Hank above ground for dinner," Erik said.

"Okay daddy," Sean chimed as he ran off to Hank's lab.

Alex was silent when he entered the kitchen, not looking at either Charles or Erik. The silence in the room seemed palpable. Several minutes later, Sean returned with Hank. The meal proceeding was quiet and awkward, no conversation at all. Alex suddenly got up and left, leaving the others to sit and finish eating. After the remaining 4 had finished eating, Charles and Erik went to clear the table.

"Don't worry about it mommy, I'll wash the dishes," Sean said, smiling.

"It's alright Sean, I'll get them, besides Charles wants to talk to me for a while," Erik said.

Erik gathered the dishes and put them beside the sink, he ran water, pouring in soap, then put the dishes in the sink, gently scrubbing the residue off and rinsing them before handing them off to Charles for him to dry. The sun had just begun setting outside and the snowstorm had lightnened since earlier, as had Alex's mood. He was outside having a snowball fight with Sean, Erik began putting away the dishes and finished his conversation with Charles.

"You want to go join their snowball fight," Charles asked, a bit confused.

"Hard for me to explain, but yeah," Erik responded.

"Then go and have fun," Charles smiled.

Charles called everyone inside at 8 and played Chess with Erik until 3.


End file.
